
Do
Cigarettes Control Your Life?
Are You
Ready to Stop
Smoking And Quit The Nicotine Habit For Good?
In
this article I want to share with you
two strategies I
used to stop smoking. If you really, truely want to quit smoking then I
am pleased you found this site. I don't have a product, course
or book to
sell you - only some free advice that I hope you find useful.
With the
first strategy I was able to stop my 1 1/2 packs of cigarettes a day
habit to no cigarettes in just a few weeks. This lasted for 4 1/2 years
and then I started again. How stupid was that?
The
second strategy (actually more of a
revelation)
allowed me to go from a three pack a day habit to zero cigarettes
immediately ("cold turkey")! That was over 20 years ago and I have
never smoked a cigarette since - nor had the urge to
smoke again.
Warning:
At the bottom of this page is a disturbing photo of a smoker's lung. If
you
don't like seeing such photos, don't read past Strategy
#2.
Reasons
to Quit Smoking - How Many Do You Know?
You are probably
familiar with
many reasons why it is a good idea to stop smoking: your
health; the
expense; laws being passed to restrict smoking; exposing
others to second-hand smoke. These are all good reasons to
quit but only if you are
committed. Someone else can't want this for you. It has to
be your idea and follow-thru if you are to succeed.
Do
you know what good things happen to your body after you quit
smoking?
- Your heart rate drops 20
minutes after quitting
- The carbon monoxide
level in your blood drops to normal 12 hours after quitting
- Your lung function
begins to improve and your risk of heart attack begins to drop in just
a few weeks to a few months after quitting
- Your shortness
of breath and coughing decrease in 1-9 months after quitting
- Your added risk for
coronary heart disease is 1/2 that of a smoker after 1 year
- Your stroke risk is
reduced to that of a nonsmoker after five to 15 years
- Your risk of cancers of
the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decreases 10
years after you quit. Also your lung cancer death rate is about half
that of a smokers after 10 years.
- Your risk of coronary
heart disease is back to that of a nonsmoker after 15 years of quitting.
Source: US Department of Health & Human Services
Are
You Ready To Get Started? Great!
Strategy
#1 For Quitting Smoking
If
you
don't feel you are ready to quit smoking "cold turkey" then consider
this 7-10 day strategy. It worked for me once and if I hadn't
decided to
try a cigarette just for the fun of it (after 4 1/2 years) it
would have accomplished the mission just fine.
Develop A
Stop Smoking Plan!
You
must have a "stop smoking plan" or
your odds of
kicking the habit are remote. It can be very tough to quit an addictive
habit that
you may have had for many years. A little planning goes a long
way. There are two main pieces of the plan you must
develop:
- Identify
Times You Have
The Greatest Urge To Smoke. These will
be the times you are most
vulnerable to failing in your mission. Things like stress, boredom,
alcohol and sweets such as candy or desserts are common smoking
"temptations".
- Develop
Specific Plans To
Counter These Urges. This may consist of certain actions
you
take, products you use or situations you avoid. If you can come up
with a specific plan to counter your urge to smoke for each
"temptation"
you
have identified in the first step, you can beat this nasty habit.
"I'm
Going To Stop Putting Things Off Starting Tomorrow"
Don't be tempted to keep delaying
your start date
of when to quit
smoking. The only time to delay is when you know of a
time (in the near future) that would be a better start date - one that
may be relatively stress-free but still allow you to stay busy.
On day one,
start your day with fruit instead of a
cigarette. I found oranges work good since cigarettes taste like crap
after eating an orange. Bananas are
good too. Bananas contain B6 and B12 as well as potassium and
magnesium - reported to help the body recover from
nicotine withdrawal.
Keep
substituting some of
the cigarettes you normally
smoke with fruit, mints (Lifesavers worked for me too) or one
of
the stop smoking "solutions" on the market (see below). And start
the process of clearing your lungs by breathing deep and
exhaling
slowly - especially when you are dying for a cigarette. It seems to
help.
This should
be your routine for the next 7-10 days.
Keep cutting down on the
number of cigarettes you smoke each day until you break the
habit.
Avoid the situations identified as vulnerable in your plan.
Let family, friends and co-workers know of your efforts to
kick
the
habit and ask for their support. Work your plan and you
will be able to stop smoking!
Strategy
#2 For Quitting Smoking - "Cold Turkey"
Before
I share my views on what it takes to quit smoking "cold turkey", I have
a question for you. Take
this little quiz which will give you the secret
to being able to quit successfully.
Two friends of yours, both smokers, tell you they have decided to stop
smoking.
Person #1
"I have
decided to quit smoking. I know its bad for me and my family is after
me to quit. I don't like standing outside or in special
areas to smoke. Besides it is getting too expensive. So next
week, I am
stopping."
Person #2
"I
have finally had
it with smoking. Last night I
ran to the store after midnight because I was almost out of cigarettes.
That's when I realized how much I
plan my life around cigarettes - where and when I can smoke them.
If I can't have one for a few hours, I am irritable
and on edge. If I'm low on cigarettes, I have to get more or
its a crises. This is stupid, I'm quiting as of now and never
buying another one."
Considering
only about one in 20 people that try to quit smoking "cold turkey" are
successful, which one do you think will probably make it?
An easy choice, right? Person #2 stands a much better chance of
quitting
because the committment is there. A deep-down committment that
just tells a person enough-is-enough. My deep-down committment came
when I could no longer catch my breath after climbing a flight of
stairs. You know, that deep satisfying breath your body craves? I went
from three packs a day to no packs immediately and never had the desire
for another one again.
Are you there yet? Is your desire to quit so strong that you will let
nothing stand in your way? If so, then the "message" is
already sinking
into your
concious and sub-conscious mind. Start thinking and acting like a
non-smoker. It almost guarantees you will be successful.
Now
you know the secret to being able to successfully stop smoking
"cold turkey".
Can you believe this
picture is of a smoker's
lung
(courtesy of CDC/Dr. Edwin P. Ewing, Jr.)? The caption
states "Gross pathology of lung showing centrilobular emphysema
characteristic of smoking."
But aren't lungs supposed to be pink? Yes, if you don't smoke or have
quit for several years. But if you continue to smoke, your lungs could
get like this. By the way, those dark spots
are heavy black carbon deposits.
Stop
Smoking Summary
You
now have two strategies to stop smoking.
Give the "cold turkey"
method a go if you are at that stage. If it seems a little more than
you are ready for at this time, then go with strategy #1 and work your
plan.
Here's
the
good news for you - there are more "tools" in your battle
to quit
smoking than
when I went thru this process. Products such as Nicocure, CigArrest, Zero
Nicotine, NicRX, Cig-Arette, Nicorette, Chantix and the newer varenicline products
all came out after I had already quit.
You may
want to research some of these products, see what
they offer, pay attention to side effects (if any) and, if it seems
right, select one or two as likely candidates for your use. They then
become part of your plan. It doesn't matter what you use as long as it
is safe for you and you follow the directions and heed the precautions.
Because, when it comes to something as important as quitting the
smoking habit,
the end definitely justifies the means.
Believe in
yourself. Believe you have
the power to succeed. And you will succeed.
Didn't
find what you were looking for? Search again below.
Disclaimer:I have
made
every reasonable effort to produce an informative and helpful article
on how to Stop Smoking based on my research and experiences.
However, I
make no representation or warranties of any kind with regard to its
completeness, accuracy or suitability for any specific situation
or purpose.
See our Warranty Policy for
more info.
Site Policies: Privacy|Site Use|Warranty||Contact Us.
Copyright
© 2006-2008 Roger J. Fischer - Stop Smoking
|